


Practice Makes Perfect

by Netgirl_y2k



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, Friendship, Lesbian Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-03
Updated: 2014-06-03
Packaged: 2018-02-03 08:09:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1737506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Netgirl_y2k/pseuds/Netgirl_y2k
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sansa was used to people assuming that she was straight. She wasn't even looking for a girlfriend, and she certainly wasn't looking for one at her brother's house party. And who invited Margaery Tyrell, anyway?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Practice Makes Perfect

"You can invite your friends too," said Robb with a winning grin.

Robb had his A-levels coming up, so he was being allowed to stay at home to study while their parents took their first child free holiday in eighteen years. Sansa was being allowed to stay too; both because she was considered the Stark least likely to get herself into any trouble, and because she had as little desire to go fishing with Uncle Benjen, Bran, and Rickon, as she did to run feral with Arya and the Mormont girls.

"Sansa’s new friends are _awesome_ ,” chimed in Arya, who was stuffing clothes into a rucksack for her visit to the Mormonts. She wasn’t even looking at what she was packing.

To Robb’s credit, his grin barely faltered. “Come on, Sansa. All my coursework is in, and I’ve been studying like crazy. I just need a night to relax before the exams start. Mum and dad will never know. I’ve already invited Jon and Theon.”

That was halfway reassuring. Okay, Sansa’s cousin and his friends were pretty unlikely to set the house on fire; Theon she was less sure about.

"Fine," Sansa agreed with a smile. She almost always gave in to her charming older brother. "But I get to invite people too."

*  
"My brother’s having a party this weekend," Sansa told Brienne and Shae; they were sitting on the grass in front of the college. "He wanted me to invite you guys."

Robb had already moved to the sixth-form college across town when Sansa had been outed to the whole of year 11. It hadn’t been _that_ awful; she wasn’t living in an after-school special. The worst of the bullying had come from Joffrey Baratheon; a boy who’d revealed himself as an irredeemable prick back in infant school.

All the same, Sansa had been relieved to move across town to the lower-sixth, leaving the local comprehensive, as well as her tormentor Joffrey, who’d failed half his exams, behind.

The other thing she’d sort of left behind was the group of girls who’d been her closest friends for most of her life. It wasn’t that Jeyne, Myranda, and Mya had a problem with gay people - although Sansa was sure they’d have preferred a boy to be their gay friend - but they’d drifted apart; and over the summer Sansa had found herself spending less time with them, and more with Shae and Brienne.

Shae had gone to primary school with Sansa, and was back home to do her A-levels after sitting her GCSEs in the young offenders institution. She’d once made Joffrey cry by threatening to do something unmentionable to his, er, _thing_.

Brienne played on the same football team as Jon, and Sansa’s cousin had introduced them with a nod and a wink. Jon had been trying to be nice; it was just that he hadn’t bothered to find out if Brienne was Sansa’s type, or even if she was actually gay…

Lots of people at college assumed that Brienne was a lesbian, and that she and Sansa were a couple. After Sansa had overheard Harry Hardyng saying that no way was Brienne hot enough to pull Sansa, she stopped bothering to deny it.

In fact, Brienne was totally straight and had a boyfriend. Well, she had a Jaime—

"You should invite Jaime, too" Sansa told Brienne.

Sansa and Shae had never managed to figure out the exact nature of the relationship between Brienne and Jaime; but whatever it was, the two of them came as a pair.

"He’s in hospital for his surgery this weekend," said Brienne. "The doctors think he might regain some use in his hand." 

"Oh," said Sansa, "tell him we’re all thinking of him."

"Brienne and I will come," said Shae, bumping Brienne with her shoulder. "We might even be able to find a girl for you, Sansa."

Shae despaired of Sansa’s shyness around girls she liked. She was fond of saying that she’d kissed more girls than Sansa had. Sansa thought that as Shae had spent most of her adolescence in an all girls correctional facility, those kisses shouldn’t really count.

Sansa blushed. “I’m not looking for a girlfriend.” That was a lie. “And I’m hardly likely to find one at my brother’s house party.”

*

Sansa knew most of the kids at the party. She’d known most of Robb’s friends - like Theon, Dacey, and Small Jon Umber - forever. Robb was also surrounded by his more recently acquired female admirers: Roslin, Jeyne, and Talisa.

Honestly, the only reason her brother wasn’t insufferable was that he seemed sincerely baffled by all the female attention.

Jon had brought Sam, of course. Jon and Sam were so close that Sam was practically Aunt Lyanna’s adopted son. Ygritte was sitting on Jon’s lap, because Jon couldn’t take a hint, and a pretty doe-eyed girl was casting nervous looks at Sam, causing Sam to blush and stutter.

Sansa found it oddly comforting that there were people in the world who were worse at flirting than she was.

Sansa stood with Brienne and Shae, while Shae tried to confiscate Brienne’s mobile. “—Even if the surgery worked, he’s hardly going to be _texting_ , is he?”

She remembered when she used to be better at parties, but ever since coming out she seemed to have lost that skill. She had trouble telling guys that they were barking up the wrong lesbian, she had no gaydar to speak of, and by now she was used to people assuming that she was straight, either that or Brienne’s girlfriend.

"Fuck this," said Shae, "I’m going to get a drink." She made for the kitchen, tugging Brienne behind her by her sleeve.

Sansa rolled her eyes and started to follow them.

"Oops."

"Oh, sorry—"

She had bumped into an insanely pretty girl with brown curls and a lovely, heart shaped face. Sansa didn’t recognise her. She knew a lot of the kids at the party, but those kids had invited their friends, who’d invited their friends…

"Hi," said the girl, "I’m—"

"Margaery!" called a boy from across the room.

"Excuse me," said the girl — Margaery — taking Sansa’s hand on her way past and giving it a quick squeeze.

Sansa must have been blushing still when she reached the kitchen, because Shae raised an eyebrow at her and said, “So _that’s_ what you like.” 

Sansa blushed all the more, and set about seeing if there was a single soft drink left in the house that hadn’t been spiked with vodka.

*

The party was in full swing. Brienne, who was usually painfully awkward at parties, was animatedly discussing the England lineup with Jon and a boy with extremely well conditioned curls. 

Shae was playing Mario Kart with Theon; they had attracted a crowd.

Sansa was a leaning against a wall, occasionally wincing at Shae’s language, and wondering if that Margaery girl was still here.

It wasn’t that Sansa was desperate. But she’d always heard that coming out was the hard part, and that hadn’t been true for her; she had known her family would support her no matter what. It was the next bit, the bit where she was supposed to meet a girl who also liked girls - talk to her, flirt with her, kiss her maybe - that baffled Sansa.

She’d come out more than a year ago, and so far her love life had consisted of being mistaken for Brienne’s girlfriend, and an offer from Theon to set Sansa up with his sister. Sansa had actually come close to asking Robb what he knew about Theon’s sister, and had only stopped out of sheer embarrassment. 

On her way back from the bathroom Sansa saw Margaery sitting in a circle with Robb and a few other boys. There was an empty bottle on its side in the centre of the circle, and Margaery had just pressed a kiss to the cheek of a furiously blushing Quentyn Martell.

"Sansa!" Jon Umber called. "Come play spin the bottle; it’s a total sausage fest, Pyp had to kiss Grenn on the last spin."

Before Sansa could answer, Robb elbowed Small Jon fiercely in the ribs. “Ah, sorry,” he said with a lopsided grin. “I guess I’m still in denial.”

She smiled graciously; Small Jon was a lunk, but he was sweet really, and she’d known him forever. “Maybe later.” 

Sansa headed back towards the kitchen; she heard a chorus of boos behind her, but didn’t at once realise it was because Margaery had left the game and followed her.

"Hi," she said, offering her hand to Sansa; her nails were short and painted a pastel pink. "I didn’t properly introduce myself earlier. I’m Margaery Tyrell."

Sansa took her hand; Margaery’s skin was soft. “Sansa Stark.”

"I know," said Margaery, the corners of her mouth quirking up. "The lesbian cousin."

"What?" Sansa asked, dumbly.

Margaery released Sansa’s hand. “My brother plays football with Jon Snow; when Jon found out that Loras is gay he said ‘that’s cool, my cousin is a lesbian,’ I think he was trying to be supportive.” She looked at Sansa from under her lashes, and said, “Your girlfriend is on the team too, right?”

"I—" said Sansa. She wanted to deny it, but in a way that made it clear that Brienne was brilliant, and Sansa would have been very lucky, and making fun of her was not okay. "She’s not— I mean, she has a boyfriend."

"Ah," said Margaery, with a look over her shoulder. The kitchen door was ajar, and they could just see Brienne still talking to Jon and the boy that Sansa could now see must be Margaery’s brother. "Lucky boyfriend."

"Yes," was all the agreement Sansa could muster, because Margaery Tyrell was standing very close to her.

"You didn’t want to play spin the bottle?" Margaery asked.

Sansa made a vague gesture that was meant to mean, _boys_ , you know, _brothers_.

Margaery stepped away from her. There was a half empty bottle of wine sitting on the breakfast bar; Margaery poured half of it into a wineglass, and then when she couldn’t find another, poured the remainder into a _World’s Best Dad_ mug.

Sansa opened her mouth to say that she didn’t drink, but before she could Margaery had pushed both drinks aside and tipped the empty wine bottle onto its side. She looked at Sansa and raised her eyebrow in a question.

Sansa reached out to spin the bottle. It revolved a few times before Margaery reached out to stop it with one delicately painted fingernail. She looked up at Sansa with a slight smirk on her lips. “Fancy that.”

Margaery took Sansa’s hands again, and gave a gently tug; Sansa went willingly. They were standing close enough that Sansa could feel Margaery's breath against her jaw. 

Sansa ran her hands up Margaery’s arms; she toyed with the soft curls that spilled over Margaery's shoulders. Margaery’s hands came to rest on Sansa’s hips. Sansa smiled nervously. 

“You’re very pretty,” said Margaery. She had to lean up, just slightly, to press her mouth to Sansa’s.

Sansa wondered if it was going to be a brief kiss, like the one Margaery had given Quent, but then Margaery’s tongue flicked against Sansa’s lower lip, and Sansa opened her mouth in response. 

She pressed closer to Margaery, accidentally bumping the girl against the breakfast bar. Sansa was about to pull away and apologise when Margaery hitched herself up against the bar, and slid a hand up Sansa's back and around her neck, pulling her even closer.

Somewhere far away Sansa could hear Shae and Theon whooping “Go Sansa!” and Robb hissing “Close the door, that’s my _sister_.”

She was vaguely aware that she was going to be mortified in some distant future where Margaery was no longer kissing her.


End file.
